Workers in Cold Climates Advised to Take Special Safety Precautions

Construction crews never get completely used to working outside in the bitter cold.

“About all you can do is dress for it,” said Kevin Bikowski, superintendent for Miron Construction at its Plexus building site downtown. “Hopefully, you can get out of the wind, take frequent breaks. Your production obviously goes down in this kind of weather.”

Employers should approach brutal cold working conditions as they would any job-related hazard, and physically isolate workers from the elements as much as possible (enclosing cabs of heavy equipment, for example) and rotate them to make sure they evenly share the burden, said Dr. Brian Harrison, director of medical operations at Affinity Occupational Health, Menasha.

Dressing in layers bears repeating, he said, starting with a “moisture-managing” layer that allows perspiration to pass through but traps air, he said.

“The employer can also educate employees about sports drinks on the job and maybe even make them available,” Harrison said. “They’re actually more important in cold weather than they are in hot weather. People get dehydrated (in the cold) but in a different way.”

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